NicolasMcComber/iStock(NEW YORK) — For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted them to close their doors more than five months ago, movie theater chain AMC is reopening 100 cinemas today — and charging a mere 15 cents a ticket.
If you want to take advantage of the super-low ticket price, you’ll have to hit your local AMC today. It’s a one-day only deal, in celebration of the cinema chain’s 100th anniversary, reflecting ticket prices in 1920, when AMC “began operations with a single movie screen in Kansas City, Missouri,” according to the chain’s announcement.
As for what’s playing, it’s mostly guaranteed crowd-pleasers like Back to the Future and The Goonies, plus more recent hits like Marvel’s Black Panther and Sonic the Hedgehog. After today, AMC will screen other retro favorites including Ghostbusters, Grease, Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back and a special 10th anniversary Inception screening, all for $5 a ticket, plus special concessions prices.
An additional 300 AMC theaters will reopen over the next few weeks, ahead of the premieres of The New Mutants on August 28 and Tenet on September 3.
“We are thrilled to once again open our doors to American moviegoers who are looking for an opportunity to get out of their houses and apartments and escape into the magic of the movies,” said AMC President and CEO Adam Aron in a statement.
You can check AMC’s website to see what theaters in your area may be open, as well as when and what’s playing. You’ll also find a list of COVID-19 precautions AMC theaters have put into place.
domnicky/iStockBy AARON KATERSKY, SASHA PEZENIK and ELLA TORRES, ABC News
(DETROIT) — The state of Michigan has agreed to pay victims of the Flint water crisis $600 million as compensation, both sources and officials confirmed Friday.
The settlement would pay claims from several lawsuits that sought damages for people who suffered illnesses related to the crisis.
The majority of the settlement, about 80%, will go towards minors, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. Settlements for children ages 6 and under amount to 64%, while 10% will go towards children ages 7 to 11 and another 5% will go towards children ages 12 to 17.
It’s estimated that tens of thousands of schoolchildren in Flint were exposed to toxic heavy metals in the city’s water.
Adults and property damages make up 15% of the settlements, while business and economic loss and relief programs make up the rest.
Some 8,000 children are believed to have some level of lead poisoning in the city, while 150 people died from Legionnaires Disease, according to ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ.
The settlement comes six years after city and state officials allowed lead from old pipes to leak into the residents’ drinking water. Some of those pipes have still not been replaced, with the coronavirus pandemic halting the work for several months.
All owners and renters of residential property in Flint who received Flint water between April 25, 2014, and July 31, 2016, will be eligible to receive compensation. All children “who were minors in Flint at the time they were first exposed to Flint water” during that period will also be eligible.
“Providing relief for the people of Flint and resolving these long-standing legal disputes has been a top priority for me since taking office,” Nessel said. “This settlement focuses on the children and the future of Flint, and the State will do all it can to make this a step forward in the healing process for one of Michigan’s most resilient cities.”
If the settlement receives final court approval, it is likely to be the largest in Michigan state government history, according to Nessel’s office. It was not immediately clear when that final court date would occur.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said that while the settlement will not completely help the families affected and some will still feel “justifiable frustrating … ongoing efforts and today’s settlement announcement are important steps in helping all of us move forward.”
Courtesy of the Academy of Country MusicTenille Townes and Riley Green are officially the New Female Artist of the Year and New Male Artist of the Year at the 2020 ACM Awards. They’re the first winners to be announced ahead of this year’s show.
“When do you think you’re gonna be playing a show again next?” Keith drily asked Riley in their call, before springing the news on him that he would be performing at the ACM Awards — as a trophy-winning artist.
“I wish I would’ve got a glass of wine!” Riley replied, stunned into silence by the good news.
While he may have been stoic and speechless, Tenille was all happy tears after Keith told her that she’s a winner this year.
“Are you serious? Oh my gosh. For real?” she gushed. “Wow. Thank you so much.”
This year’s ACM Awards ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in April in Las Vegas, the month and city where it’s been held for the past several years. But in light of escalating concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was pushed to September 18, where it will be held in Nashville.
The show will broadcast live from the Grand Ole Opry, with additional performances airing from two more historic Music City venues: The Ryman Auditorium and the Bluebird Cafe.
(NEW YORK) — Dozens of fires continue to burn in California Thursday as thousands of structures are threatened and many people remain under evacuation orders.
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire, which includes Napa, Sonoma and Lake Counties in California, has burned more than 124,000 acres and is 0% contained. It has already destroyed 105 structures and 125,000 structures are still threatened.
The commander of Travis Air Force base in Solano County, California, has ordered all non-mission essential personnel to evacuate the base due to the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, according to a statement released by the 60th Air Mobility Wing Wednesday night.
“There is currently no lodging available on Travis Air Force Base and members are directed to stay with family or friends, proceed to evacuation centers, or secure commercial lodging outside of the evacuation area,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the SCU Lightning Complex Fires, which encompasses parts of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties, is 102,000 acres and is currently threatening nearly 4,00 structures. It has 5% contained.
The SCU fires are made up of 20 different blazes.
In San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, the CZU August Lighting Complex Fires are 0% contained and are currently burning 25,000 acres. More than 6,500 structures are threatened and more than 22,000 people have been forced to evacuate.
A Red Flag Warning continues Thursday morning from California to Montana, where gusty winds near 35 mph could spread the fires.
Record heat has also not been helping the firefighters deal with all blazes, which were sparked by lightning. A monsoon storm and tropical moisture from the Pacific have been creating thunderstorms that produced all the lightning in the last week, but because it’s so dry, most of the lightning comes without rain.
Through the West, the oppressive heat will continue.
On Wednesday, Las Vegas (113 degrees), Death Valley, California, (124 degrees), Salt Lake City, Utah, (100 degrees), Phoenix (115 degrees) and Tucson, Arizona (111 degrees) were just some of the places breaking record high temperatures.
Excessive heat warnings and advisories continue for southern California into Nevada, Arizona and Utah Thursday, when more record highs are possible throughout the Southwest.
Unfortunately for the region, there is not a lot of relief for the Southwest in sight. Temperatures might actually get hotter for some cities this weekend, like Sacramento, California, and Salt Lake City.
This heatwave could continue in the Southwest into next week.
Turning to the tropics, there are three storms worth monitoring in the Atlantic.
One of them has become a tropical depression overnight and is forecast to be named Laura in the next 24 hours as it moves just north of the Caribbean Islands. It moves toward the Bahamas and Florida by the end of the weekend into early next week.
This storm is forecast to stay as a tropical storm through the time period, with winds up to 70 mph as it approaches Florida.
The other tropical disturbance is in the Caribbean now and is forecast to become a tropical depression by Friday or Saturday as it moves over Yucatan Peninsula this weekend.
After that, it will move into the Gulf of Mexico and could bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Texas.
Finally, a third tropical wave is still far away near the African coast, but now has a 40% chance for development into a tropical cyclone. It is expected to move east over the Atlantic Ocean.
Phil Ellsworth / ESPN ImagesBy AARON KATERSKY, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Surveillance video of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at a massage parlor will remain out of public view because police violated his rights, a Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The Fourth District Court of Appeals said a trial court properly suppressed the video evidence.
“We find the trial courts properly concluded that the criminal defendants had standing to challenge the video surveillance and that total suppression of the video recordings was constitutionally warranted,” the appellate judges said.
Kraft and two dozen others were charged in 2019 with solicitation of prostitution after they were secretly recorded entering a Jupiter, Florida, day spa and receiving services.
Kraft has pleaded not guilty, but issued a public apology.
Prosecutors can appeal the ruling to Florida’s Supreme Court, but if it stands they could be forced to drop the misdemeanor charges for lack of evidence.
Kraft and the other defendants successfully argued their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches were violated.
“The spa-client defendants in all of these cases had a subjective and objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in the massage parlor rooms,” the appellate judges said.
Using a phony bomb threat to clear the building, police installed hidden cameras in four of the massage rooms and in the lobby of the Orchids of Asia spa.
Three detectives monitored and recorded video from the hidden cameras over five days. The cameras recorded video continuously, but Jupiter detectives monitored the video feeds only during business hours.
The detectives toggled between the video feeds whenever they thought criminal conduct was imminent. They focused on the end of the massages because they said any sexual conduct typically occurred at that point. In all, police recorded 25 spa customers paying for sexual services.
Kraft was filmed visiting the spa on two occasions and was stopped by the police while driving away after his second visit. He was later charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
“The type of law enforcement surveillance utilized in these cases is extreme. While there will be situations which may warrant the use of the techniques at issue, the strict Fourth Amendment safeguards developed over the past few decades must be observed,” the judges ruled.
NicolasMcComber/iStock(NEW YORK) — For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted them to close their doors more than five months ago, movie theater chain AMC is reopening 100 cinemas today — and charging a mere 15 cents a ticket.
